Borromeo Quartet | Beethoven Cycle Concert #5 | Francestown

The Borromeo String Quartet concludes their series of performances of the complete Beethoven string quartets, with a concert at the Old Meetinghouse in Francestown, NH on Sunday, May 12 at 3:00 p.m.

This final event in the series reprises the String Quartet No. 13 in B♭ major, Op. 130 in its original form, ending with the fugue (which later became op. 133), along with the Quartet No. 14 in C♯ minor,  (Op. 131) and Quartet in A minor, (Op. 132). Some see these three as a trilogy of works, intertwined thematically and emotionally to the point that they form one massive musical statement.

About the extraordinary pieces culminating the world-renowned Borromeo Quartet landmark series for the Monadnock region, Artistic Director Jonathan Bagg, explains: “The ‘late quartets’ of Beethoven were produced in one continuous stream. The composer was in the grip of a tremendous progression of ideas that led him from essentially known territory towards a new and radical concept of the string quartet’s potential, stunning in its ambition, variety, and originality. We see this transformation taking place as we move from the heroic grandeur of the “Galitzin” Quartet Opus 132, towards the more expansive but in some ways more intimate six-movement form of opus 130, which in its original state ended with the huge 15-minute Grosse Fuge, and finally to opus 131, a work that the listener experiences not as a succession of discrete movements (seven in all), but as a seamless flow of mood and ideas. It is not surprising that these quartets were rarely performed in the years following their composition. Such wrenching, dissonant counterpoint as is presented in the Grosse Fuge, such wild contrasts of mood and texture as are found throughout the quartets, and the many movements of unusual length and character, all of which aim to subvert the aesthetic norms of the classical era, would have been off-putting, even frightening to contemporary listeners.  In the fullness of time, however, the music became not only familiar but much beloved of those that gave it their attention. Its effect on composers of following generations was especially profound.

Co-director Laura Gilbert notes, “Electric Earth Concerts has been so fortunate to be able to present this amazing experience, the performance of complete Beethoven Quartets played by one of the greatest quartets in the world, the Borromeo Quartet!  It has been an absorbing journey – from the first concert of the complete Op. 18 quartets to the complex late quartets- tracing the creative life of Beethoven through his chamber music masterpieces.  We are so happy to have been able to bring the highest quality performances of these quartets to our friends in the Monadnock region!  I anticipate our final Beethoven quartet concert, on May 12 at the Old Meeting House in Francestown, with excitement and a bit of sadness knowing that this is the final concert in the series.  I can’t think of a more beautiful place to hear these late quartets than in this the historic and acoustically perfect performance space.”

“Each of the greatest string quartets has redefined what the possibilities of the medium are: through the perfection of its ensemble and intonation, through its poise and its passion, the Borromeos are recreating the medium anew and we are lucky to be here to hear it.” The Boston Globe